Developing some problems with my hands. I guess I'm just getting old or maybe all these years of playing music is catching up with me. It's almost like having a headache in my hands. Maybe its all the chemicals I've had to use in the Printing Shop. It seems worse with the cold weather.Oh well, I did have a good run at playing music all these years. At least my ears still work & I can listen to music.Merry Christmas guys & girls

I think a lot of my problem is stress. Being unemployed doesn't help. Can't find any work & when I get a lead on a job my age seems to rule me out. Too much time to think on my problems. That's why they call it the blues.

BobHolland wrote:I think a lot of my problem is stress. Being unemployed doesn't help. Can't find any work & when I get a lead on a job my age seems to rule me out. Too much time to think on my problems. That's why they call it the blues.

Hey Bob!You must be the other bass player. I think there's just you and me.Sorry to hear about your lack of work. I'm, (let me count a moment) 57 this year! I had a comfy job at Montgomery Ward, but they shut down the whole business just to get rid of me. That ain't fair. So of all things, I had to go back to what I did when I was working my way through school: house paintin' and handyman services. Plus, I'm in a tiny resort town in Michigan. I only get work from well-to-do people from Chicago, and then only in spring, summer and fall. Nothing during the winter. But I did find some Mickey mouse work the will help me sink slower, until the rich people come back in the spring. I'm helpin' a guy ship out professional recording tape, RMG. He's the only source left in the Western Hemisphere. T Bone Burnett and Jack White are a couple of his clients. Hang in there, and don't die in the street, your clothes will get dirty.Bill

NEWS - I finally found a day time job. Not full time but 33 hours a week. Pays not great but OK. Close to home, about 10 minutes. Doing something I know how to do. Small printing press operator. I owned a print shop for 25 years & went bankrupt. Things are looking up. Playing bass is not looking up for me. I am not giving up on playing music yet.

Bob, I hope your new job is going good (I jus' saw this thread). You've had a challenging year personally, me bucko. That can be a sign that God has got some good things in store for you... but the waiting can be a son of a gun, . BTW, have you checked your playing technique with any other bass players to see if you're doing anything that might be exacerbating your physical issues? I know it's a long shot, but the stakes are kinda high.

Bob, good news about going to work. That's great -- doing something, even less than full-time, is a hell of a lot better than not having anything to do.

MakaInOz: You got a bass harp? Those things are pretty pricey. A couple of years ago I played harmonica in the orchestra pit for a University production of Big River (based on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, with music by Roger Miller). The score was a bear, and one song called for a bass harp. The director asked me to see if I could get one, so I checked around. Elderly Instruments had them listed for around $1000US, with a delivery time of 30-90 days. Since the show was due to start in a week (and I was being paid $500 to do it) the bass harp didn't happen.

Back to Bob: I know all about hand pain. I have arthritis in both hands. I compensate by having terrible technique (by conventional standards) but one that allows me to play the bass. Instead of arching my fingers as I once did, I lay them flat against the fingerboard like I was playing a barre chord, and let the fingers reinforce each other. A good friend and long-time playing partner (30 years, next December) who is a bass player AND a stickler for technique tells me, "I love to listen to your bass lines but I hate to see your technique." Luckily I don't use a pick (I also play electric guitar, and I guess I'll have to give up the flat pick there, too).

What the hell, I still make music: I've got three gigs on bass, Dobro and harp coming up, and I won't tell 'em that my hands don't look like they're doing right.

I'm dabbling in things other than diatonic at the moment. I got a Swan 48 Chord Compact last September and it was pretty good quality for 10% of (that is of, not off) the price of a similar spec Hohner or Suzuki. So I decided to get a Swan Bass for Christmas. It has two octaves in C and is laid out like a piano (white keys on the bottom row, black keys (+ applicable white key fillers) on the top row). Its all blow - no draw. The quality is not quite as good as the 48 Chord (it doesn't seem as robust) but for $180 its very good value. The layout makes it much simpler to learn than the chord, and with two kids that play bass there's plenty of instruction available on figuring out bass lines etc.

Most of my giging is with a harmonica ensemble, where the chord and bass add new dimensions to the sound, as we were only diatonic and chromatic beforehand (the Low F diatonic pretended to be a bass a lot). The Swan stuff seems pretty well constructed and as I only wanted to see if chord and bass were where I might want to go (without stopping diatonics of course), they represented a good value opportunity. If I ever get good enough that my ability exceeds that of the harp, I'll contemplate making the big investments

thanks for that. I didn't know about the cheaper alternative, which is OK because I got through the performances (Tuesday through Saturday) without spending more money. In the event, I trudged up the steps into the pit every evening with my little Hohner harp case, pretending not to notice the bass player with his Fender Jazz and Bassman amp, and the horn players with their cases etc....

Since I have a selection of electric basses, I'm in no hurry to add a bass harp.